Lexie Simmons had a Career Ready mentor and paid internship with our partners, Allianz. Now, she’s a degree apprentice in their Manchester office. This is her story.
“Career Ready gave me so many different opportunities to build my confidence, work on my professional skills, and meet new people in different industries,” says Lexie.
“I think having that almost accelerated crash course in an industry was really helpful, and I also found that when it did come to applying for apprenticeships, and actually stepping into that professional environment, I was ready. I felt like I’d had that step up and that boost.”
Watch the video to hear more about Lexie’s journey:
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Video transcript:
Career Ready gave me so many different opportunities to build my confidence, work on my professional skills such as communication, punctuality, meeting new people in different industries, hearing their perspective and their career journey.
I had a mentor at Allianz, and we connected straight away, I was very fortunate. She opened me up to different aspects, I really learnt the exciting part of insurance and the impact we can have to make a positive difference when something really negative does happen. And I think having that almost accelerated crash course of this is how to become a professional in an industry was really helpful.
And I also found that when it did come to the interview process for applying for apprenticeships, and actually stepping into that professional environment, I was ready. I was prepared, and I felt like I’d had that step up and that boost.
A degree apprenticeship was always going to be on the cards for me, I think that exciting feeling of mixing both work and education really pushed me. I’ll be honest, that balance was a lot harder than I anticipated, but I’ve had such a great support system with my managers, with Jules our Early Careers Lead at Allianz, and working with the other apprentices.
There’s just so many opportunities that I’ve been able to open myself up to and push myself into different avenues which I didn’t necessarily thought I’d go into.
I’m personally loving bringing what I’ve learnt in the classroom into the work environment and I’m finding that a lot of my colleagues and teammates are also wanting to see how we can implement different things, trial out new ways to look at different problems. It’s nice to bring that breath of fresh air into the office.
